The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a programme celebrating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary via video conferencing on December 13 in Kamban Kalai Sangam, Puducherry under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- The Prime Minister also released a commemorative coin and postal stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo.
- The Prime Minister explained that in 1893 Sri Aurobindo returned to India and in the same year Swami Vivekananda went to America to deliver his iconic speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions.
- Gandhi ji went to South Africa in the same year, which marked the beginning of his transformation into Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister added.
- The Prime Minister said that the life of Sri Aurobindo is a reflection of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ as he was born in Bengal and knew many languages including Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit.
- He spent most of his life in Gujarat and Puducherry and left a deep imprint wherever he went.
- Throwing light on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, the Prime Minister remarked that when we become aware of our traditions and culture and begin to live through them, it is at that moment when our diversity becomes a natural celebration of our lives.
- The Prime Minister pointed out that Sri Aurobindo was such a personality whose life had a modern scientific temper, political rebelliousness and a sense of the divine as well.
- The Prime Minister recalled his ‘no compromise’ slogan during the division of Bengal.
Sri Aurobindo and philosophy
- Sri Aurobindo, born on 15th August 1872, was a visionary who made lasting contributions to India’s freedom struggle.
- Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary by organising year-long activities and programmes across the country.
- He was the first political leader in India to openly put forward, in his newspaper Bande Mataram, the idea of complete independence for the country.
- Prosecuted twice for sedition and once for conspiracy, he was released each time for lack of evidence.
- In 1910 he withdrew from politics and went to Pondicherry in order to devote himself entirely to his inner spiritual life and work.
- During his forty years in Pondicherry he evolved a new method of spiritual practice, which he called the Integral Yoga. Its aim is a spiritual realisation that not only liberates man’s consciousness but also transforms his nature.
- In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, the Mother, he founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
- Among his many writings are The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga and Savitri.
